Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 180 The Recent Situation of an Acquaintance

Hearing Xu Xiaotian say this, Guan Tong asked curiously, "Aren't the students of the academy supposed to be under the key protection of the authorities?"

"That's not enough to protect so many people. The authorities also sent some people with special abilities and items to help, but it wasn't enough. In the end, we had to draw lots, and I was lucky enough to draw the right to use an item, which is how we got through it."

Upon hearing this, Guan Tong said, "Didn't you try to develop noodles with new abilities on the fly? Like, a kind of noodle that makes people 'lose their sense of touch' after eating it?"

"It's not that easy," Xu Xiaotian said helplessly. "Developing noodles with special abilities would consume a huge amount of mental energy and take many days to complete. If I had known the rules a few months in advance, I might have been able to give it a try."

"I see."

Guan Tong thought that developing something on demand was indeed unrealistic. Not to mention Xu Xiaotian's instant noodle props, even his own "wordless book" wasn't that convenient.

"The whole college is in a state of panic right now. I've even heard some people say that we, the first cohort of students, might graduate this August."

"So fast?"

Guan Tong remembers that the college started on August 10th last year and she will graduate this August, which is a whole year.

"Is the academy's program only one year long...? But time is indeed very precious now."

Before the post-apocalyptic era, a one-year graduation period would likely have been the only time for a few one-year master's programs.

However, in the post-apocalyptic era, a year means potentially going through ten rounds of rules, greatly increasing the value of each unit of time.

From last April to this April, ten rules have been implemented. If this pace continues, the remaining thirty-nine rules should be completed within four years.

However, that's assuming humanity can persevere until all the rules are followed. If they perish halfway through, the time will be greatly shortened.

"What will happen to you after graduation?" Guan Tong asked. "Will you be assigned to shelters like everyone else?"

"That's still uncertain," Xu Xiaotian said. "I heard that the government is short-staffed right now, and we first-term graduates will probably all be assigned to various government departments. By the way, the salaries of government staff are now settled in Ascension Coins, did you know that, Brother Tong?"

"I saw someone say that online."

A month or two ago, someone posted on the Ascendant's Home website that the official department was carrying out reforms and that the previously suspended salary had been restarted. However, after the restart, instead of cash, Ascendant Coins would be issued.

As for the source of these sublime coins, they are naturally collected from the residents of various city shelters and then distributed as needed.

"I hope I can be assigned to a good department by then, sigh."

"What, you don't want to accept the assignment?"

"That's not entirely true. Besides, there's nothing else I can do if I don't accept the assignment... One of our lecturers said that exceptionally high-performing students might have the opportunity to stay at the academy for further studies and help the future second-term students, but I'm definitely not qualified..."

"Isn't it a bit too late for the second-generation students to start learning from scratch now?" Guan Tong asked doubtfully.

If the first and second phases have the same admission standard, namely a maximum of 80 points of mental strength, then the current 80 points are not nearly as valuable as the 80 points at the beginning of the apocalypse.

“I’m not sure about that,” Xu Xiaotian said. “But there are rumors in the academy that some foreign students will be recruited in the second phase. Recently, many countries have dissolved and the government has said it will recruit a batch of refugees. These might be the people they are referring to.”

"That's it."

"By the way, Brother Tong, are you still out in the wild?"

"Yes."

"...I really admire you. After the ninth rule of the mist, most of the people in the wild have returned to the cities, right? There probably aren't many left still out there now."

Xu Xiaotian is right; the fog in Rule Nine destroyed a large number of wilderness camps.

Yu Hong and Zhao Yu, who camped at the foot of Mingdao Mountain, are a case in point. Most wilderness campsites are simply no match for the encroaching fog and the attacks of the monsters lurking within it, so it's not surprising that they would choose to return to the city.

“My situation is a bit special,” Guan Tong said, “and I also prefer to stay outside.”

"Okay, then after I graduate in August, can I apply to go out of town and visit you, Brother Tong?"

"Sure. But we'll probably have to go through two or three rounds of rule checks before that, so let's be careful."

"You too, Tong-ge."

After hanging up the phone, Guan Tong picked up her phone, opened her contacts, saw Wang Yan's name, and dialed her number.

A while ago, Wang Yan called him and made Chen Na apologize for lying to him, and said that they should keep in touch more often.

Guan Tong agreed at the time, and now that she's still in high spirits after chatting with Xu Xiaotian, she might as well give her a call and ask how she's doing.

The call was answered quickly, and Wang Yan sounded surprised: "Xiao Guan? What's up?"

"It's nothing, just saying hello to Sister Wang."

"Oh? Hehe, that's quite rare." Wang Yan chuckled twice. "I thought you, Xiao Guan, weren't the type to take the initiative to contact people."

Wang Yan wasn't wrong. Guan Tong himself knew that he was a slow starter, usually answering the phone passively and rarely initiating contact with others.

“Nana and I are both fine,” Wang Yan said. “We didn’t suffer much from the rules this time because—well, I won’t go into details. The confidentiality requirements for this place are extremely high, so I dare not say anything.”

Guan Tong knew that Wang Yan and Chen Na had been recruited by the government and said understandingly, "It's okay. As long as you're safe, Sister Wang, I don't have anything else to do, so let's leave it at that."

"Hey, Xiao Guan, wait a minute. Are you still outside the city?" Wang Yan asked curiously.

"Yes."

"Oh dear, isn't this a bit dangerous? Look at these recent rules, the ninth and tenth ones; staying outside is quite dangerous. If you ask me, we should go into the city and apply for a shelter."

"I don't have that plan yet, Sister Wang, you don't need to worry."

"Okay. Next time I meet Nana, I'll have her call you and say hello."

"it is good."

After hanging up the phone again, Guan Tong scrolled through her short contact list, finding only the name "Shi Jingyi" at the bottom.

He pressed the call button, and after a few rings, a message came through the receiver: "The number you dialed is temporarily unavailable..." Was he not there? Guan Tong put away his phone.

He wasn't worried that Shi Jingyi would encounter any mishaps under the tenth rule. Not to mention that she would receive strong official support as the academy's main lecturer, even without official support, she should be able to pass this rule smoothly on her own.

Let's take a look at the new arrivals first.

Guan Tong hadn't checked the phone call from Xu Xiaotian that interrupted him. Now he silently ordered to open the terminal panel and enter the Ascension Shop.

The new product looks like a handheld electronic disc.

[Life Detector]: Detects signs of life in humans within a 1000-meter radius. If alive, the signs will be displayed as a red dot on an electronic screen. Disposable item.

Price: 300 Ascension Coins

"Detecting life signs in humans..."

It has to be said that Guan Tong had a bad feeling as soon as she saw the product details.

Is the eleventh rule another survival-related rule?
If it's a survival rule like rule nine, which humans can overcome through technological inventions, then it's fine...

"Forget it, we'll find out when the time comes. There's no point in thinking about it too much now."

Seeing that the product was unlimited, Guan Tong immediately spent 6000 Ascension Coins to buy 20 of them and put them in her storage box. Anyway, she could do whatever she wanted with the coins.

Then, just as he was about to turn on his computer to check the website information, his phone rang, and Shi Jingyi called back.

"Hey."

"I was cultivating just now," Shi Jingyi explained as soon as she came in, explaining why she hadn't answered the phone. Then she asked, "Did you need something from me?"

"It's nothing, just saying hello."

"Hmm?" Shi Jingyi said in surprise, "This isn't like you at all."

"..."

"Never mind, it's kind of you to do this, thanks, I'm fine here."

"That's good. Then I—"

"Wait, don't hang up yet," Shi Jingyi asked. "How's your cultivation going with your mental energy flow?"

Guan Tong said, "I can now circulate it twice in a row, and I can basically achieve the initial goal of covering my whole body with mental energy, but I am still far from being able to manipulate it as freely as you do."

"hiss……"

On the phone, Shi Jingyi gasped, as if she were very surprised.

"Your talent is truly remarkable."

"Fortunately."

"No need to be modest. The best students in the academy can barely complete one cycle. Your progress has far surpassed theirs. But you can't blame them, because of the mind lock, they all find it difficult to calm down and cultivate."

A mind lock? The academy hasn't solved this problem yet?

Guan Tong had broken free of the restrictions using the [Wordless Book] before the ninth rule ended, and had completely forgotten about the matter. However, she hadn't expected that the resource-rich academy would still be struggling to resolve the issue even after the tenth rule had ended.

Shi Jingyi keenly sensed something from his silence and asked, "You've broken through the mental barrier?"

"Yes. I used my own method."

"Can your method be used on other people?"

"Probably not," Guan Tong paused and added, "because this method is related to my special props."

The "Wordless Book" is his exclusive item. Whether he can use the power manifested from his mental energy to help others break through their mental barriers, he really doesn't know.

However, he believed it was highly unlikely, and even if it were possible, he wouldn't be inclined to do it. Doing so would most likely expose the abilities of his tools, and even if he could gain some benefits, the risks wouldn't be worthwhile.

"That's a real shame," Shi Jingyi said regretfully. "If it were useful, I could probably make a lot of Ascension Coins by 'charging for unlocking'... Wait, speaking of which, you shouldn't be short of Ascension Coins, right?!"

Guan Tong wasn't surprised that Shi Jingyi knew he had a lot of money—since she knew he was the Shadow and also knew about the Ascendant website owner selling information. Although he hadn't explicitly said he was the website owner, she could guess pretty accurately.

"We don't lack anything. What's wrong?"

"Lend me some money. I want to buy something, but I don't have enough."

"Sure. How much do you need to borrow?"

"Let me calculate, including my own, I'm still short 300,000."

"Three hundred thousand?" Guan Tong exclaimed in surprise. "What kind of thing is so expensive?"

"A secret martial arts manual about Qigong! I saw it on the trading market and I'm very interested in it. I plan to buy it and try it out. However, the price is very high. Can you lend it to me first? I'll pay you back slowly over the next few months."

"Okay. Send me the terminal's serial number."

"Thanks!"

Shi Jingyi quickly sent the number, Guan Tong added her as a friend, and then traded 300,000 Ascension Coins to her.

After the transaction was completed, looking at the name "Shi Jingyi" used as a nickname in his friend list, he thought for a moment and decided not to delete her as he had done before. Since she already knew his identity, he figured he might as well keep her as a friend.

　Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to all our dear readers!

　　Starting today, I will resume writing 10,000 words every day, three times a day!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)